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Freaking out about wisdom teeth extraction and a gum graph

  • Thread starter Scared(michael)Chiklis
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Scared(michael)Chiklis

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Feb 1, 2018
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my top two have significant decay, and the bottom two are impacted. i'm 25 years old (if that matters) and i just can't get this off my mind. everything i've read on this forum tells me i should have nothing to worry about, but i'm still freaking out!

like, the sedation part. if they do an IV sedation, they do local anaesthetic as well, right? well what if they dont give me enough local aneasthetic but i'm too wacked out to ask for more (with my past tooth extractions, i always had to ask for more until the dentist had to say "well we actually hit the max on what i can give you, so..."

and some people say you fall "asleep" while others say they are loopy but "aware" of what's happening?? i dont want to be aware at all..

and now i just saw someone say that their tooth that was next to the pulled tooth is loose! my teeth suck! what if this dentist uses my good tooth "as a fulcrum" or whatever and winds up screwing up my good teeth next to the bad ones?

the whole thing just freaks me out and i cant get it out of my head! which is worse because i have my first vacation in two years coming up tomorrow and i dont know if i can enjoy it because i'll be spending all my time wondering about my crappy mouth and upcoming surgeries!

also, yeah, the gum graph thing scares me too (they actually further peel back the receding gum when they stitch in the new gum, jesus f christ, that sounds like wartime torture!!) but the wisdom teeth part wont leave the forefront of my mind.. i guess my only question so far about the graph is does anyone know how far along these synthetic gums are that i've been hearing about? i live in the US and am wondering what my chances are on getting that instead of a slice taken from the roof of my mouth (yaaay, uggh)
 
Hello and welcome, you have come to the right place to meet others who can understand exactly where you’re coming from.

First, your upcoming vacation. Let it be just that. A vacation! I had full mouth extractions in September under IV Sedation and two weeks before I had that done, my family and I took a Caribbean cruise! We had booked it purposely because I wanted to give myself one more carefree hoorah and escape from reality before I had the ‘dreaded dental work’ done. How you enjoy your vacation is by staying present and in the moment. If your mind starts to wander to the dental work just say to yourself mentally “Stop,there will be time to worry about this later” and return to focusing on where you are and the fun you’re having. Repeat it as often as you need to.

I was completely unaware during my IV Sedation for the most part. I do not recall hearing anything anything anyone said. I had one brief moment of about 20 seconds where I recall feeling a little bit of pressure on my lower gum area and I recall making the “Ahhhh” sound to let the dentist know I felt something and then I recall not feeling anything a few moments later as he obviously either numbed me more or cranked up the Sedation. I know nothing else of my 6 hour procedure. I’m also having another 4 hour implant procedure done on the 28th of this month, so if it were at all bad trust me when I tell you I would not be repeating it. I too am hard to numb up but there is a mixture of both pain meds and sedative in what they give you, feel free to ask your dentist as many questions as you need to about the Sedation and procedure so you can fee better about it. Someone is monitoring you the whole time so it is safe to be sedated and it’s best for the type of people like me who don’t want to be aware of ANYTHING.
You can communicate and follow directions but you won’t recall most or any of it and will think you slept the entire time. When I was younger I had my wisdom teeth out under Sedation and I don’t recall remembering a thing. Please keep us posted on how you’re doing, I’ll be thinking of you.
 
Hello and welcome, you have come to the right place to meet others who can understand exactly where you’re coming from.

First, your upcoming vacation. Let it be just that. A vacation! I had full mouth extractions in September under IV Sedation and two weeks before I had that done, my family and I took a Caribbean cruise! We had booked it purposely because I wanted to give myself one more carefree hoorah and escape from reality before I had the ‘dreaded dental work’ done. How you enjoy your vacation is by staying present and in the moment. If your mind starts to wander to the dental work just say to yourself mentally “Stop,there will be time to worry about this later” and return to focusing on where you are and the fun you’re having. Repeat it as often as you need to.

I was completely unaware during my IV Sedation for the most part. I do not recall hearing anything anything anyone said. I had one brief moment of about 20 seconds where I recall feeling a little bit of pressure on my lower gum area and I recall making the “Ahhhh” sound to let the dentist know I felt something and then I recall not feeling anything a few moments later as he obviously either numbed me more or cranked up the Sedation. I know nothing else of my 6 hour procedure. I’m also having another 4 hour implant procedure done on the 28th of this month, so if it were at all bad trust me when I tell you I would not be repeating it. I too am hard to numb up but there is a mixture of both pain meds and sedative in what they give you, feel free to ask your dentist as many questions as you need to about the Sedation and procedure so you can fee better about it. Someone is monitoring you the whole time so it is safe to be sedated and it’s best for the type of people like me who don’t want to be aware of ANYTHING.
You can communicate and follow directions but you won’t recall most or any of it and will think you slept the entire time. When I was younger I had my wisdom teeth out under Sedation and I don’t recall remembering a thing. Please keep us posted on how you’re doing, I’ll be thinking of you.

thank you so much for your reply!! especially the part about staying in the moment and enjoying my vacation and your clarification on the sedation awareness thing!

and yes, i'll definitely post an update. i want to be one of the ones telling other people "dont worry, i freaked out too, but it really wasnt that bad!"
 
also, would anyone know how long this operation would take? two are exposed and have "significant decay" and the other two are impacted
 
I'm glad you posted. It is good to get it all out.

I had wisdom teeth removed four months ago, and a gum graft a month ago today.

Your concerns are perfectly valid and rational. In my experience, for each:

1. IV wasn't bad. I was out of it. The oral surgeons do this multiple times a day. My firm guess and opinion is that you will be fine.

2. Dry sockets happen, even if we follow all instructions (which it sounds like you're going to do). My dry sockets were painful, but mostly annoying. I went back to the oral surgeon, did what he said, and felt fine permanently starting a few hours later.

For me, with wisdom teeth, it wasn't so much the pain (which was very much bearable), it was enduring the soft food. I encourage you to get more soft food, with more variety, than you think you'll need.

3. The gum graft wasn't pleasant, but it was considerably easier (annoyance-wise) than the wisdom teeth.

4. Some of my teeth were jarred a bit. Or, they were sore and sensitive. My regular dentist gave me prescription toothpaste which immediately fixed it completely.

5. In addition to a fairly varied diet of soft food, I encourage you to schedule follow up appointments a week after each procedure. I didn't do that beforehand, but did so just after.

Above all, definitely go enjoy your vacation.

The procedures were like paying taxes, renewing your car tags, or any other necessary and annoying part of life. Again, it wasn't so much the pain (bearable, definitely) as the annoyance.

Just my two cents! Enjoy your vacation. You can handle this.
 
I'm glad you posted. It is good to get it all out.

I had wisdom teeth removed four months ago, and a gum graft a month ago today.

Your concerns are perfectly valid and rational. In my experience, for each:

1. IV wasn't bad. I was out of it. The oral surgeons do this multiple times a day. My firm guess and opinion is that you will be fine.

2. Dry sockets happen, even if we follow all instructions (which it sounds like you're going to do). My dry sockets were painful, but mostly annoying. I went back to the oral surgeon, did what he said, and felt fine permanently starting a few hours later.

For me, with wisdom teeth, it wasn't so much the pain (which was very much bearable), it was enduring the soft food. I encourage you to get more soft food, with more variety, than you think you'll need.

3. The gum graft wasn't pleasant, but it was considerably easier (annoyance-wise) than the wisdom teeth.

4. Some of my teeth were jarred a bit. Or, they were sore and sensitive. My regular dentist gave me prescription toothpaste which immediately fixed it completely.

5. In addition to a fairly varied diet of soft food, I encourage you to schedule follow up appointments a week after each procedure. I didn't do that beforehand, but did so just after.

Above all, definitely go enjoy your vacation.

The procedures were like paying taxes, renewing your car tags, or any other necessary and annoying part of life. Again, it wasn't so much the pain (bearable, definitely) as the annoyance.

Just my two cents! Enjoy your vacation. You can handle this.

thank you for your response! this is only place i seem to receive support lol i do have just a couple questions for you if you dont mind

do you know what caused your dry socket? (so i can try to avoid it if possible) and what did the doctor tell you to do for you to feel permanently fine a few hours later?

and when you say the gum graft wasnt pleasant, is it because of the sore teeth (i know you mentioned the toothpaste which eased my mind), or was it something else as well that made it unpleasant? my dentist said the surgeon could put me under for that surgery as well if i feel i'm too anxious
 
Sure.

1. The oral surgeon told me to irrigate it with hydrogen peroxide. You can ask for one or two dental irrigation syringes from your oral surgeon, or just order them online.

Honestly, I'd not be too worried about getting dry sockets. My understanding is that even if you do everything right (like I did), you can still get them. And once you do get them the oral surgeons can recommend different things. It is just something to handle. I suffered more from the monotony of the soft foods than the real, but limited, pain of the dry socket.

A dry socket is something to be watchful of, and to take fairly prompt action, but I wouldn't be worried about it.

So far as I know dry sockets are caused by food getting in there. Nothing anyone can prevent. Just bad luck. One of those things.

2. For the gum graft, what sucked the most was the injections for the anesthetic. The gum graft itself was just pretty annoying. "This sucks" is what I was thinking to myself. It sucked in the same way that waiting in line at the DMV sucks. Just something to endure and wish it was over soon.

For both the wisdom teeth and gum graft it was more a matter of it sucking, being annoying, and boring. I followed the aftercare instructions to the letter and both ended up fine.

If you are 25 you've probably had plenty of worse experiences in life. Its just that these are situations of "controlled sucking", by people who went to school for a long time for this, who have done these procedures dozens/hundreds/thousands of times. They control for many of the variables that could go wrong, and in the unlikely event something does go wrong they know what to do.

I think you'll be okay. It will suck for awhile, but soon it will be in your rearview mirror.
 
thanks again, all of this really is helping me calm down!
 
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